INQUISITOR NO MORE

NATHALIE EMMANUEL  //  have you met SECOND SISTER TRILLA SUDURI yet?  THEY/SHE is now TWENTY-SEVEN years old NONBINARY FEM HUMAN, originally from ONDERON but typically reside on YAVIN 4.  after everything they've gone through, she shows loyalty to THE NEUTRAL.  they are best known for being a JEDI YOUNGLING ATTENDANT, & i hear they’re grown pretty ERUDITE yet also UNHINGED at times; i hope she survives the galactic war.  (APRIL)

they couldn’t even wince at her words, head inclining slightly with a nod. it might have been cynical, but they couldn’t blame trilla for it — & honestly they might have been right to doubt the jedi. ahsoka being on the council gave meetra some small measure of confidence, but would she be enough to change a whole organization ? she would certainly try. “i don’t think they can ask us for faith, after everything. i can’t manage it, at least.”

as far as cal knows, neither of them are particularly prepared for what this is becoming. cal knows he’s not. with the republic having turned into the empire while he was so young, cal’s life has been full of trying to keep safe, hiding from the empire, from the inquisitors. and it’s not as though growing up within the order really.. prepared him for how he feels with trilla now. whatever they are, what they’re becoming, he figures they’re discovering it together. which is comforting in itself, for cal at least.

“well yeah, that definitely helps. i mean i doubt i was ever gonna be this friendly with someone who was constantly trying to kill me or use me somehow.” he can’t help but laugh, absolutely no heat behind his words. all of that.. it’s behind them, now. trilla’s a different person now. he doesn’t want to.. rush this conversation though, or whatever sits behind it all. that’s the last thing either of them need. he can understand where she’s coming from. it’s all they’ve ever been told - attachment was never an option for jedi. and when he was younger, he didn’t question it. but things change. he’s changed - they both have. “i do have a loyalty to the order. but i have a loyalty to.. myself and the people i care about, too. i have a responsibility to let myself live my life. the order wasn’t.. always around, and i’m not gonna let myself fall back into thinking my entire life has to be the order and nothing else.” pausing, cal turns his head to look at trilla, suddenly struck by just how close they are - something that brings a comfortable sort of smile to his face. “trilla, i don’t wanna - make some big call on what.. this is. what i know is i like the time we spend together. i’ve liked where things have been going, i like where things are still going. i feel.. different when i’m around you, and it’s not exactly something i want to just throw away. and if you - feel the same, i wanna.. figure out what that can be. i’d want us to figure that out together.”

change was something that trilla had proved nearly too capable of doing –– they had swung so far to the other end of the spectrum that they had become unrecognizable to herself, to the person who had once loved her more than anyone else in the universe. to become dead to cere, after all, prior to sixty-six... had been no easy feat. she had changed so much that she had lost who she was, become a shell of herself to become one of the empire’s finest. when they had finally had enough sense to recognize that, the only solution had seemed to swing back to the other end: to become set in their ways, entirely inflexible. to their credit, it had succeeded them for a while. but now... this, whatever this was –– beyond her particular friendship with cal, but the entire role that she was playing here –– it required flexibility. it didn’t require her to find who she had been before their life had fallen apart, but to become someone different. someone better. there was still a piece of her terrified by that.

“well, they have a good teacher. that makes it easier.” she had loved saber training — though admittedly, she might not have been the most patient when it came to the repetition of practicing. these days, though, she found it almost relaxing. if her younger self could see her now. she paused slightly at trilla’s question, lips thinning. “it’s … a process. i like having more people around, but i … don’t entirely trust it.” she shook her head slightly. “how about you ? “

Third Sister knew better than to show how deep that cut. She buried her outrage behind a prim, closed-lip smile and made her riposte with aristocratic precision.  “Is Seventh worth so little to you, dear sister? Tsk. Disown me if you must, I assure you the feeling is mutual, but it’s rather imprudent of you to discount her so readily.”

They tilted their head at Trilla’s response.  “On the contrary, it would seem that we have more in common than you may be inclined to hear.”  Third’s gaze returned to her nails.  “One wonders how such a blunt instrument as yourself squirmed their way out from under the Empire’s heel.”

there had been a time in their life where seventh sister had meant quite a good deal to them –– maybe it was because she had seen pieces of herself in the younger inquisitor, or a piece of them just desperate to find some kind of meaning in the middle of everything. “you’re mistaken. she wants nothing to do with me. new friends, and all.” pity was what came to mind. not anger, not jealous, just... pity.

“trilla,” they greeted warmly, giving the other a friendly smile. “how are the younglings today ? “ taking care of the little ones had certainly gotten easier since the circumstances had forced them back to the temple on yavin, but. it still felt odd, that it wasn’t just them, trilla, & cal. they’d grown used to the routine of things.

“heard?” the words are biting, edged in a cruelty she’d never ( before ) directed to trilla, an anger that seeps so far into her bones she barely knows anymore where it ends and she begins ( if the two could even be separated after all these years ). “i felt it.” she’d been there on hapes, had talked with him just minutes before, discussed his leaving of their ranks and what she and third sister planned ( or, rather, hadn’t planned ) to do with his departure and the dawning of a new year, and with it a new start. he hadn’t been able to take that chance, and she had chosen not to - how things had changed in just seconds, a flash of utter pain then anguish from third sister, ears filled with indistinguishable screams. “i was in attendance with our siblings.” unlike you.

❛   me   again,   ❜   he   echoed,   the   sliver   of   a   smile   he   gave   about   as   friendly   as   their   GREETING   was.   he   had   not   expected   to   see   her   in   the   jedi   temple.   then   again   he   did   not   entirely   belong   either   so   really   who   was   he   to   judge   ?   ❛   you   must   have   missed   my   excellent   HAPAN   KILLING   company.   ❜   the   light   sarcasm   could   not   be   missed.   ❛   what   brings   you   here   ?   ❜

“heathen?” whoever this person was… they had an amusing way of putting things that was for sure. anakin reached through the force to sense the other to see that they too had been dabbling with the darkside at some point. his lips formed a grimace hoping they wouldn’t put too much of a fuss in the crowded market. if too much attention came towards them it would ruin his relationship with his local contact, looking over anakin made direct eye contact all while raising his finger in a salute to place a bid. he wouldn’t give them money and instead would use the opportunity to take down yet another pack of slavers. while also preserving his contact planetside. “don’t worry I’ll be leaving shortly, after discussing a few transactions with….’’ he paused to poorly hide his disgust at even the idea of indulging them, “the locals of course.”

“  I  do  not  know.  “  Dooku  murmured,  attempting  to  start  the  transmission  up  again.  But  it  was  no  use.  Jocasta’s  face,  as  familiar  to  him  as  his  own  after  so  many  years,  did  not  come  back.  His  shoulders  squared  back  when  he  turned  to  look  at  them,  “  I  do  not  go  by  that  name.  Master  Dooku,  if  you  please,  young  one.  “  his  tone  was  curt  and  to  the  point.  “  This  does  bring  forth  the  question….  Has  Yavin  been  compromised  ?  “  he  pondered.  He  was  meant  to  be  on  his  way  back  to  the  Temple.  

there’s an ease to being around trilla now, something cal never thought he’d feel around them. something that’s.. grown so naturally over time, developed in a way he never could’ve expected but.. now can’t imagine not having. even the sound of annoyance she makes is different, no real edge or genuine annoyance behind it anymore. they’ve… changed, become another version of themselves - maybe not the version they were before the empire, but certainly not the version they made her either. and cal’s changed, too - it’s impossible not to, after everything. he just never figured that would.. bring them here.

he laughs softly as he watches them shift in the hammock, clearly comfortable. and as much as he doesn’t want to disturb her, it feels awkward as hell to just be standing here. “yeah, well - i’m about to get even more cruel, hang on -” with way more grace than people typically assume he has, cal manages to ease his way into the hammock with them without causing too much movement or unbalance. “that’s fine, i can… go first.” okay, but what does he want to say? cal has no idea, if he’s being completely honest. it’s not like he has a lot of experience with this, and it’s not like he expected it to happen with trilla. all he can do is be.. honest, he supposes. however ridiculous he knows he’s gonna sound. “things have.. changed. between us. even before the kiss. in a good way, if that wasn’t obvious. i didn’t really realise what it meant until then, but uh. i have a pretty good idea now.”

a brow arched at him for just a moment when he offered a warning to his next words, though as soon as he stepped forward, it was immediate obvious that he was doing. trilla let out a sigh that was just noisy enough to be dramatic in nature, though they don’t move to stop him. instead, they tense slightly only to ensure that she did not shift her weight too drastically to make it more difficult for him to get inside of the hammock with her. once he had settled in across from him, they drew their flesh leg up, crossing it on top of the opposite thigh to offer a little more room for him. it was big enough for them both to fit without a problem, but not enough to get away with no bodily contact.

it’s hard for aayla, they aren’t sure that it ever won’t be now. they are trying to come to terms with it, but at the use of the title it has them closing their eyes for a moment to focus before looking at her with a smile, “trilla, hello. how are you??” they ask the other, “are you enjoying the temple??”  they aren’t sure why they feel so awkward here. maybe after time it’ll be easier, but as of right now they can’t seem to shake the feeling or the way they keep looking around the temple in wonder and something that they couldn’t name.

ahsoka can sense the lie. as much as she knows she has a lot to learn about trilla and who they’ve become, she can tell the other isn’t being honest. but.. she’s not going to push it, either. she needs to be comfortable with the idea that trilla has people she can, and will, trust when she needs to - and that, so long as ahsoka’s around and continues to support them wherever she can, trilla will hopefully allow her to be one of those people when she needs it. “so long as you’re alright.” she answers simply, okay not to push things too much for now. letting out a soft sigh, ahsoka nods her head at what was a question without being a question. “we are. we’re trying to uncover what we can about these beings, but it’s going to take some time. they seem to have.. kept themselves hidden for some time now.” pausing, ahsoka watches the other carefully. “i know i don’t need to, but the safety of you and the younglings is important as well. i want to make sure you all have what you need for a while.”